Randolph W. Troke saved John Kent from burning, Perth, Ontario, November 7, 1960. At night while Kent, 67, was asleep on a davenport in the living room of a frame dwelling where he lived alone, fire broke out in the adjoining kitchen. Two young women noticed flames issuing through the kitchen roof and informed Troke, 55, textile spinner and Kent’s neighbor. Troke, who had a cardiac condition, ignored his wife’s warnings and ran to the front door of the burning dwelling with his 14-year-old son and one of the young women. Troke aided his son in forcing open the door. Dense hot smoke drove them back. Warning his father not to enter the dwelling, Troke’s son left to get a face mask. Troke called out to Kent and, receiving a response, stepped into the dwelling. Calling out from time to time, he groped his way into the smoke-filled living room and reached the davenport, from which Kent then rolled onto the floor. Flames were issuing through the kitchen doorway into the living room as Troke grasped Kent, who was inert, and dragged him to the front door. His son and the two young women then relieved Troke of Kent and dragged him onto the lawn. Coughing from smoke he had inhaled, Troke staggered from the dwelling and collapsed from a heart attack. Firemen extinguished the flames. Kent revived and recovered. Troke was hospitalized and returned to work in two weeks.
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